Platonic Pandemic
by Evil Kitten1
Summary: As a new virus ravages the world and people are dropping like flies, Liechtenstein wanders around in snowy Siberia alone with just chocolate and a mobile phone with a dead battery until she finds Sweden and travels with him. But they both learn that companionship is born out of the most unlikely circumstances...
1. Chapter 1

Of all the pandemics and epidemics that flash up at different points throughout history, among the rampant death tolls and pain and sadness that ensued from the brutal attacks from the microscopic life forms, very few of the death tolls have passed the overall death toll of WW2 such as the devastating Spanish Influenza and the Black Plague that ravaged Medieval Europe.

But while current illnesses like the various bird flu strains and the MERS virus are under tight watch from disease control authorities and scientists, they have failed to spot and prevent a spread of a simple virus…

It started out in China's home city with what seemed to be a surprise protest. At least, that's what the world media is saying, but what actually happened was that 20 people fell ill to a mysterious disease that caused them to have coughing fits, fevers and swollen necks. The hospital shut down immediately to keep visitors out, but people in the crowd already got the symptoms and panic exploded into a lynching of a small child, which cause retaliatory attacks onto them by other people. The army was sent in instead to deal with the fighting while the police escorted disease control experts into the hospital by helicopter. The government was blamed for withholding information of a new illness from the world, but it was already too late.

It was as if out of nowhere, this new illness swept across East Asia and infected over half the populations in a span of 2 days. This prompted borders of all countries to close down as well as shipping ports and air spaces, but panic still ensued and random riots broke out. People cannot leave their countries and nobody can enter. Some governments managed to take control of their people and imposed curfews. But while armed groups decided to run rampant and gain support throughout around the world in their own countries, some countries have populations of wary sick people who have not yet rioted, but would rather spend energy getting better.

Somewhere in the chilly no-man's land of Siberia, Liechtenstein nervously wandered through the snow while carrying her gun in her hand. The wind whistled, but she was grateful that the blizzard finally subsided earlier, but she's alone in the middle of nowhere with a gun for defence. Ahead of her is a deep-looking forest of gigantic trees and she hurried her steps, wishing that she wasn't so short that the snow was up to her waist. Her fever is cooled down thanks to the chilly winds, but now she wishes that she is wearing another thick coat on top of hers so she isn't going too cold. Her little nose has gone bright red from the chilly wind earlier.

As she entered the forest, she quickly checked her gun to check for ammunition and saw that she only has 5 bullets left. The only other objects that she has in her pockets are a couple of chocolate bars (courtesy of Russia from when she met him at the world meeting in St Petersburg), a few Russian Roubles and her mobile phone, which ran out of charge ages ago. Her last text message from Switzerland, which was very brief, says: "Trust nobody and get to Iceland ASAP."

"Okay… plan…" the little girl whispered and walked on, looking around warily, "get as further north as possible, then go east… no wait, if I go far west, I'll end up walking in this country for days, but I'll at least get to Finland and I might find him and he might help me... It's too cold…" She sniffled and rubbed her nose, shivering all over. She took her finger off the gun's trigger just in case. "Okay, instead, I'll keep going east, and then somehow cross the sea to get to Canada… I can handle the cold… nobody else will think of going the same way as I am, so I should be completely alone…"

While snow melted in her boots, she took deep breaths to stay awake but stopped to cough into her glove while her forehead burned with a fever. The nipping cold isn't cooling her fever down, but now Liechtenstein's fingers feel stiff as if they're going to snap any second. The thought of that happening terrified her and she flexed her hand, swapping the gun between her hands so she's always holding it while walking slowly.

A branch snapped and she sharply looked up ahead, seeing some deer-like creatures just milling around in a group of 6. They seem to be reindeer. Looking at them made the girl smile and she watched them glance around when one caught sight of her and stared, pulling its ears back. They all have guide ropes attached to harnesses on their bodies.

"Oh! Are you Santa's reindeer?" Liechtenstein spoke softly and walked towards them with light steps, pushing through the deep snow.

The reindeer snuffled and backed up, when someone approached them to calm them down by holding the guide rope in place. Liechtenstein froze, grip tightening on the gun while the reindeer's owner seemed oblivious to her presence. She raised her gun at the person, but the thought of running away instead didn't seem like a bad idea. The reindeer person doesn't seem to be armed.

"Could ya put that gun down? You could hurt someone," their deep voice suddenly spoke and turned around. He is a tall blonde man with thin-frame glasses and he is wearing a thick black coat with sheepskin lining underneath it. Liechtenstein stared, lowering her weapon.

"A-are you Mr Sweden?" she squeaked, coughing into her hand.

"Ja, I am. Are you Liechtenstein?" the man asked. The girl nodded, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "What are you doing here?"

"B-brother told me to get to Iceland as soon as possible…" Lichtenstein sniffled.

"Come over here, the deer were only frightened because ya have yer gun out," Sweden spoke encouragingly, holding his bare hand out. The girl looked at him nervously, but walked over anyway and put her gun into her pocket. At that, the reindeer seem to calm down.

"Don't you have any gloves?" she asked. Sweden shook his head.

"I was in a rush. Things just went out of control quickly at Moscow. Priority was to get the diplomats out of there as soon as possible," he spoke.

"Oh…" Liechtenstein muttered. "I was in St Petersburg with my brother. The world meeting was there, but only a few of us turned up when the riots started outside, and… brother got separated from me." She looked down at the snowy ground, breathing shakily.

"I'm sorry," Sweden murmured and reached over to brush some snow off the girl's head. "If you like, you may travel with me until we reach Iceland. I needed to get there first before going to my country."

"R-really? You'd let me come with you?" she looked up at him hopefully. Sweden frowned a little, seeing how red her face is from the cold.

"Ja, you can come with me. But you should rest. You might be sick," he spoke, walking to one of the reindeer to adjust the saddle. "You can ride on Dancer." Liechtenstein giggled at the name.

"Are these your reindeer?" she asked, smiling as she stroked the neck of the ungulate. The Swede beside her held the guide rope in his hand after untying it from a tree trunk.

"No, but… I got them just in case of emergencies." He didn't look at her as he said that, but Liechtenstein let it slide and she looked at the saddle a little helplessly.

"Uhm… can you help me get onto Dancer please, Mr Sweden?" she asked shyly. The man smiled very slightly and he kneeled down by the reindeer, cupping his own hands together while holding them out towards her.

"I'll give ya a boost," he commented. Liechtenstein carefully stepped on his hands and he stood up a little; but the girl wobbled at the unexpected move and gasped, quickly clambering onto the saddle and breathed quickly. "Are you alright?" Sweden asked blankly and the girl nodded.

"S-sorry, I didn't know you were so strong, I felt surprised…" she panted before coughing again and the animal made a noise, uncomfortable at the girl's apparent sickness. Sweden patted the reindeer's side and held its rope in place to wait for it to calm down.

"Don't worry. We'll get you to your brother soon," Sweden said and he began to walk the reindeer in a line as they are all connected to each other by the guide rope. Liechtenstein relaxed and looked around as the reindeer walked along.

"Mr Sweden, you said you got the reindeer for a reason… Are you going to eat them?"

Sweden noticed how anxious the girl sounded and replied, still walking. "Most likely not."

"Why?" Liechtenstein asked, blinking.

"I'll probably need to trade them in exchange for a boat ride to get to Canada. There could be people who'll gladly have their items traded in exchange for them," Sweden explained. The girl looked at him in horror.

"B-but what will they do to the deer?" she asked, sounding distressed. She was leaning over to hug the animal's neck. The Swedish man watched her, feeling like hitting himself for upsetting her.

"They'll… There'll be other people who want animals to ride on," he lied and walked on, looking ahead. He heard the girl breathe out in what he assumed as a sigh of relief.

"That's good… I hope they look after the reindeer well if we do any trading," Liechtenstein smiled, still hugging Dancer's neck and she shut her eyes. Sweden felt a pang in his heart at the sight of innocence beside him, but kept a stern look.

While it is currently daylight, they both know that the evening is crawling in with darkness spreading over the land slowly; and it will soon put them both at risk of attack from bandits or wild animals. Sweden's starting to get tired from all the walking, but persisted and carried on with the reindeer until they stopped.

"Mr Sweden? Why have we stopped?" Liechtenstein asked and coughed a little, shaking. At that, Sweden reached over and lifted the girl off Dancer with ease as if she's a doll; Liechtenstein blushed lightly when the tall man held her against his chest, carrying her.

"We're stopping fer the night. It's best to rest now," he replied and walked over to the bottom of the tree where some of the massive tree roots made a natural arch. The tree looked as if it was almost completely blown over as a sapling, but now grown at an awkward angle so it's leaning to one side, but some of its roots have crawled over some large boulders to form a small cave. It looks too small for Sweden to go inside, however. Liechtenstein could fit in easily.

"But where will you sleep?" she asked as the man let go of her and she stood up. "I can't sleep knowing you're getting cold…"

"I'll be fine. You take priority," Sweden simply answered. "Let me have your gun. I'll stand guard."

The girl looked at him worriedly and thought of Switzerland's last text message to her. _'Trust nobody.'_ But Sweden helped her so far and gave her a ride when she felt too tired to walk on her own and now she's got small shelter thanks to him – did he just want the gun off her all along so he has something to protect himself and do a runner with the reindeer?

Sweden still stared at her, glancing at her pocket where the gun is kept. At that, Liechtenstein decided to put her hand in her pocket, but took out a bar of chocolate instead, handing it over to him.

"Eat something first," she began, "but let me keep the gun, please?"

"Alright," Sweden shrugged and he sat down on a rock in front of the tipsy-turvy tree. "Go and get some sleep, and I'll wake ya up before dawn. Up nice and early."

"O-okay… goodnight," Liechtenstein looked at him warily before kneeling down to crawl into the space. It wasn't very big, but it's not too small for her to fit in either. It's just big enough for her to sit up straight inside.

"G'night, Liechtenstein," she heard him speak outside and she curled up on the soft ground, hugging herself. She took the gun out of her pocket and placed it beside her so that she doesn't accidentally set it off in her sleep and she shut her eyes, finally feeling sleepiness take over and drip into her conscience before she fell into a deep sleep.

When Liechtenstein woke up, she yawned softly and her stomach rumbled loudly. She noticed the bright sunlight cutting through the gaps in the roots over her head and she gasped, wondering what time it was. She hurriedly grabbed her gun and crawled from under the shelter, but the reindeer are still sleeping on the ground together. Sweden is leaning back against the tree behind him, sleeping peacefully. The girl sighed in relief, but Sweden did tell her that he'd wake her up before sunrise. It's obviously past that now.

But now she feels worried, looking at the man and the chocolate wrapper slightly sticking out of his pocket. Yesterday, he wanted her gun, Switzerland told her to not trust anyone. But so far Sweden made her feel safe and gave her a ride on the reindeer.

Liechtenstein looked at the guide rope on Dancer's neck. The saddle is still on him. She can just leave with Dancer instead. Sweden did tell her that he can trade the reindeer for important things, so she'll just leave him with the remaining 5. Besides, she more or less knows how to ride a horse or anything horse-shaped.

Quietly, she reached over to where the guide rope is tied at a loop hanging from the harness. She fumbled with the tight knot and finally undid it. Dancer looked at her with its brown eyes while she tied the loose guide rope onto a tree branch, mimicking Sweden's knotwork.

"Come on, Dancer, we'll go together," she whispered and climbed onto Dancer's back and held his reins. Dancer stood up and she straightened her back, hoping that she doesn't fall over. Liechtenstein glanced to where the sun is rising at before she lightly touched the sides of the reindeer with her heels, and Dancer immediately walked on. The rider is happy that the snow is muffling the sound of the hooves and she rode on.

So far, nothing has happened to the girl and reindeer, but the cold is still bitter and chilling to the bone. As they rode along, Liechtenstein ate some of her chocolate, but stopped halfway to wonder where Dancer could eat at. There's no sight of fresh grass anywhere and the snow seemed too deep to forage through. But she pushed the thought away and carried on riding until they left the forest and into a wide, white wintry wasteland with howling whistling winds dashing around.

"Oh my goodness…" the girl whimpered, trembling all over, "we'll have to grit our teeth on this one, Dancer, we'll make it if we keep walking, okay?" The reindeer's pace slowed down and it huffed, raising its head high, but it still carried on.

Fluffy white clouds floated about in the sky, accompanied by some black smoke in the distance. Liechtenstein is on alert and she carried on riding towards the destination of the smoke. Who would be making a campfire all the way out here…?

As they closed in, Liechtenstein saw a small cabin and a clear space for sleighs and a group of white-coated dogs feeding on some bones, but they saw the reindeer and they started to snarl and bark loudly, pulling at the chains that are attached to their collars. The reindeer almost reared and threw the girl off, but she managed to calm him.

"Calm down, Dancer!" Liechtenstein ordered and made him carry on walking towards the small log cabin, but not directly towards the dogs. At that moment someone walked out of the cabin. They had a rifle in their hand as well as a scarf wrapping around their head to hide their face but not eyes.

"Who goes there!?" they shouted and aimed the rifle at Liechtenstein.

"I need some help!" Liechtenstein called out, with her hand in her pocket. She's shaking from nervousness and the Siberian cold. She's never good with negotiations. She feels that she always gets talked over. "Where could I go to cross the sea to Canada?" she asked loudly.

"You're nuts, lady!" the man shouted, still aiming at her head. Dancer became unsettled, moving his hooves about but the girl kept him in place with one hand on the harness. "I got nothing that can help you get across that water! Just give up or get shot!"

"Do you have a boat or anything?" Liechtenstein spoke urgently. "Anything! Even a couple of planks of wood! I NEED to get across the sea!"

"No can do!" The man suddenly fired his weapon, but he deliberately shot it in the air, but the noise caused Dancer to buck and panic. Liechtenstein shouted at Dancer, yanking his harness, but it is no use; he's going to bolt if she doesn't take control. She's starting to feel like throwing up with all the rough motions like sea sickness. The man smirked under the cloth of his scarf and aimed at her again. "My dogs could do with some more food!"

Suddenly, another reindeer charged past her and Liechtenstein gasped. Sweden sat on the back of the other reindeer with pure confidence as he aimed a rifle at the man ahead and they both simultaneously fired. The man cried out as he got struck in the chest and Sweden fell off the reindeer and into the snow, lying still. Liechtenstein let out a small scream and she threw herself off Dancer, collapsing into the heavy snow before stumbling to her feet to run over to the Swede and kneeled beside him and held his face. His eyes are shut.

"Mr Sweden? Mr Sweden!" she cried out, feeling hot tears warm her cheeks up. "Please wake up! Please don't leave me, please!"

Her breath hitched before she coughed into her hands and she looked at the white fabric, stained with a couple of droplets of blood. She paled, smearing the liquid with her other hand to make sure its fresh and it's actually hers – but they are. More tears fell and she looked up and down Sweden's body, but she couldn't see where he got hit at. She sniffled, crying again. "I'm so sorry, Mr Sweden…!"

The man coughed and Liechtenstein gasped, staring at him as he opened his eyes slowly and he rubbed his right ear sluggishly in an uncoordinated way like he's drunk.

"Liechtenstein…?" he murmured, blinking as he focused on her with blurry eyes. Blood ran down the side of his head.

"Is your e-ear alright?" she sniffled and looked. His ear is bleeding, but only at the lobe. "I-I think some of your ear lobe is shot off… w-why did you come for me? I left you!" she began to cry again, hugging him tightly around his chest. The taller man sat up and wound his arms around her, hugging her small body close.

"You did…" Sweden breathed out, "but I didn't want anything to happen to you… so I came to find you…" He let go of her to cough into his hand and he quickly wiped it on his dark trousers, but Liechtenstein saw the bloody smears on his bare hands and her eyes widened.

"Mr Sweden! You're coughing up blood!" she exclaimed worriedly, "we need to keep moving and get you something to make you better!"

"I know," Sweden let out a breath and coughed again in his hand, looking at the girl, "but we lost too much time already. Let's salvage supplies from that hut and then we'll try and make a boat together or at least find one."

"B-but that man said there's nothing useful that can help me cross the sea!" Liechtenstein explained and her hand wandered to touch his bleeding ear, and the man sucked in a sharp breath; she immediately withdrew her hand. "Sorry."

"Don't apologise," he murmured and moved to stand up. At that, Dancer the reindeer walked over hesitantly and he nudge the Swede's shoulder. Sweden patted his neck. "Good Dancer." Liechtenstein walked past him to hug the animal around his neck, saying; "thanks, Dancer."

Sweden turned to the log cabin 10 feet away from them and he walked towards it, followed by Liechtenstein as she held the reindeer's rope. She doesn't know where the other one went, but she pushed that thought away for now as they passed the dead man and walked up to the log cabin. It's built on stilts so that it couldn't get buried due to snow. Liechtenstein didn't notice until now, but there's a small shed besides the cabin that looks more like an outhouse with a cast iron bathtub inside as well as a lot of tools. There are also 12 dogs tied to the stakes in front of their kennels on the other side of the cabin and a large pile of meat and bones that they could all reach. But on the other side of the hut is a sleigh that can be pulled by those dogs. Liechtenstein looked at Sweden's head, disturbed by the blood draining down his head from his destroyed ear lobe.

"L-Lets go inside and clean you up…" she muttered, grabbing his hand and Sweden followed her quietly as she knocked on the front door.

"Uh, Liechtenstein… the owner of the cabin is dead. You don't need ta be formal," Sweden blinked. The girl's face flushed in embarrassment.

"U-uh, sorry… force of habit," she stuttered before pushing the door open.

Nobody else seemed to be in the cabin since it's really just one large room with a single bed in the corner, but there's a cosy fireplace at least which is still burning some firewood. There are a lot of blankets on the bed too with a mix of different fabrics; some are cotton sheets but most are fur from skinned animals. Liechtenstein felt a tight knot in her stomach at the sight of furs and looked away.

"I don't like hunting… I hate the idea of being chased for skin…" she mumbled, holding onto Sweden's shirt sleeve. Sweden patted her head gently and walked her to the sofa in front of the fire, before they both sat down together. The Swede was going to go fetch the first aid kit off the hook on the wall by the fire, but Liechtenstein got to it first and opened it up. She's glad that the kit is completely full with essentials, there's even some antibacterial cream and it looked like there are other essentials added in there like extra plasters and a couple of bottles of saline.

"Perfect," the girl smiled and looked up at Sweden. "Go sit down, relax and I'll heal your ear in no time."

At that, Sweden let out a small chuckle and the girl smiled brightly, feeling warm deep down. Sweden sat back down on the sofa facing the fire while Liechtenstein put on a pair of disposable gloves and tugged out a wet wipe from the packet, wiping the blood off the side of the man's neck and head. She discarded the soaked wipe to the bin and got out another one, carefully dabbing the burnt skin and exposed flesh and the Swede let out a sharp hiss of pain. "Sorry!" Liechtenstein apologised, carrying on wiping away excess blood. "I don't actually know THAT much about first aid… nothing about being shot at…" Sweden hummed in affirmation and the girl searched through the box, glad that he's not bleeding so much, but he'll need something to stop too much blood being lost again… aha.

"Are you feeling okay?" the Swedish patient asked.

"Ja, I am," she replied, "oh, and I'm going to have to wrap this bandage over your head and under your chin…"

"That's fine."

"Oh, okay…" Liechtenstein took out a pad of bandage, cut out a square and took some sticky tape; pressing the thick bandage in place while putting the sticky tape on, but it covered Sweden's right ear completely. "Oh hold on, I won't need to put on the bandage around your head after all," she chuckled, putting the first aid kit away. "Does it feel alright?"

Sweden clicked his fingers by his covered ear, sighing a little. "I think my hearing's a little shaky. But at least I'm not bleeding, thanks to you."

Liechtenstein blushed a little, smiling as she threw her gloves away.

"So what shall we do now? Keep going? Oh wait!" she gasped, "where are the other reindeer?"

"Don't worry, I kept them safe somewhere sheltered, but I'll bring them to this cabin. The cabin's got an outhouse they could stay in," Sweden replied and he patted her head. "But I want to have a word with you first…"

Liechtenstein sat down, feeling nervous as she faced him.

"You left me without telling me," he began, and the girl lowered her gaze.

"I know…"

"If the reindeer hadn't woken me up, I wouldn't have saved you in time," he spoke again sternly, "I won't be lying when I say that its best for us to stick together at all times. If I tell you to run, you run, if I tell you to stay, you stay, but whatever happens you must do as I say until we find your brother, understand?" Liechtenstein looked down at her lap, nodding quietly. "I said; do you understand?"

"Yes, Mr Sweden…" she murmured.

"I understand that it was wrong of me to ask for it off you, considering that my rifle was in a case carried by my reindeer and that you feel secure having something to defend yourself with, but it's your hesitancy that I don't trust. Not one bit," he carried on. "Because of your hesitation, you could've been killed. Do you know how to use your gun?"

Liechtenstein looked at him. "I only had a few practice sessions with big brother…"

"How many?"

"At least 4…"

Sweden shook his head. "That's not enough. You'll need regular training. And a back-up plan in case something happens to me. This will sound bad, but…" his voice dropped, "I'm infected with that illness. I don't know how long I'll last, but I'm not leaving you until you're well defended."

"S-Sweden, I'm infected too…" Liechtenstein's voice cracked a little as she shut her eyes tightly. Sweden scooted over and pulled her into a gentle hug.

"I'm sorry… but you still have a chance," Sweden murmured and pulled back. "We have 3 things to do then. The first is to get you accustomed to firing a gun; I won't always be there to pull triggers for you."

"I guess I could do that…" the girl sounded nervous, wiping her eyes.

The Swede nodded. "You _will_. I promise. Step 2; hunting." Before Liechtenstein could complain, Sweden interrupted, "there's no other way of feeding you besides that chocolate you got, and that can't last forever. You need to learn how to hunt so you can eat properly."

"But I don't want to kill an animal…" Liechtenstein's voice wobbled anxiously.

"They won't feel any pain unless you shoot them in the right place," Sweden spoke in a gentle way, "they'll feel nothing if you shoot them right."

"B-but…" the girl gulped, "what if I miss or hit them in the wrong place?"

"Then you can just finish them off quickly so they won't suffer any more."

"I-I don't think I could do this," Liechtenstein shook her head violently and curled her hands into fists on her lap. Sweden rested his hand on her back.

"You can," he spoke encouragingly, "and I'll make sure you learn how to shoot well. I won't let you shoot an animal unless I'm confident that you can do the job right. Step 3… it's more like a step for me. I noticed that there are spare planks in the outhouse along with tools; in order to cross the sea, we'll need to make an efficient boat." Liechtenstein stared at him.

"You can make a boat?"

Sweden chuckled. "Ja, I can. If I'm lucky, all the tools I need will be in that outhouse and I'll have the boat ready within a month." His companion smiled brightly.

"May I help then?"

"Ja, you may," he smiled.

"Oh, and Mr Sweden?" Liechtenstein suddenly asked.

"Ja? And jus' call me Sweden or Sve."

She nodded. "When we get to Iceland… do you think my brother will be there?"

"If he asked you to go there, then he definitely will be waiting for you," Sweden nodded.

"What about the other Nordics?" Liechtenstein tilted her head.

"Possibly…" But Sweden didn't look as optimistic as he said that.

"W-well hey, at least we have each other," the girl smiled.

"When yer not runnin' away, ja," Sweden laughed.

"I'm glad you're not as scary as people say… I love your smile."


	2. Chapter 2

After they ate the last bit of Liechtenstein's chocolate, they got around to examining the cabin's interior. It has at least 1 window at each side with curtains tied to one side of each window. There's a large, black leather chest at the foot of the bed that includes random items like: clothes, toys, small bottles, jewellery, an acoustic guitar, purses, hats, shoes, sweet wrappers, a broken wooden chair, pots and pans, boxes…

"Do these all belong to the man outside?" Liechtenstein asked Sweden, referring to the dead man outside being currently eaten by the sleigh dogs. Sweden was outside earlier dragging the dead body and left it for the dogs to eat ravenously. They needed feeding, judging by their skinny bodies. He did this privately so that the girl wouldn't see him feeding a corpse to dogs.

Sweden shrugged. "Maybe not. He could be a bandit and stole these off travellers."

Liechtenstein reached in and held a baby-sized onesie outfit. "Oh… he even stole a baby's outfit…" Sweden gently took it off her hand and he put it back in the trunk, closing the lid.

"I'm going to go to the outhouse and see if there are any more helpful tools, you can go take a rest in bed, alright?" he spoke, standing up. "If I'm going to go build a boat, I'll need to see what I have and don't have." Liechtenstein just nodded and stood up to sit on the edge of the large bed, looking down at her boots.

* * *

Sweden left the cabin, breathing out puffs of white mist as he rubbed his hands together and walked down the steps and into the snow. The dogs nearby are still eating the flesh of their former master, but one looked up and barked loudly at the man. But Sweden walked on until he got to the outhouse and walked inside, glad that he's not trudging through snow anymore. In the back right corner is a huge log pile that is obviously for the fireplace inside the cabin and at the opposite side is a pile of planks of various shapes and sizes stacked up all the way to the ceiling. Those'll be perfect for boat making, and the Swede noticed that are a lot of tools in this small building that will be extremely useful, like hammers, a heavy-looking box of nails and screws as well as a chainsaw which is hanging up on the wall on a couple of hooks. But his interest became roused when he noticed a large object at the back wall with a white sheet covering it; he walked over and yanked the cloth off, only to step back in mild surprise. It is a snowmobile with 3 cans of fuel inside as visible of the transparent measuring lines on the sides. "Perfect…" he murmured, "but it won't be any use in crossing the water. It'll be too heavy to get carried in a boat too…" The snowmobile looked brand new too like it's just been purchased and never used before, but Sweden made a mental note to check it over later on as he threw the cover back on.

* * *

Inside the cabin, Liechtenstein laid back in the large bed, staring up at the ceiling. She took her coat off earlier as well as her boots, thanks to the heat in the room from the burning fireplace. Her eyelids felt heavy again from the shock of today and she yawned softly.

Footsteps tapped the steps outside and she sat up quickly, but relaxed when Sweden stepped inside, taking his boots off as he locked the door.

"Are ya feelin' alright?" Sweden asked, looking at her. Liechtenstein nodded, but coughed a little.

"I thought you were someone else then…" she spoke a little. "I got worried…"

The Swede took his coat off. He's wearing a sweater and some thick combat trousers, both ideal clothing for spending time in the harsh cold climates. He then took his sweater off revealing his plain white t-shirt and hung it over the back of a chair by the small table close to the door. "Don't worry. Nobody will get to you."

"What about you?" his companion asked and got off the bed.

"They'll have to get through me to get to you first," Sweden answered simply and began to check to the windows for draughts or damage.

"But why are you doing this for me?" Liechtenstein asked, watching him, "you didn't have to."

The man stopped examining the broken seal on a window and turned to her. "It's what yer brother would want me to do. It's what I would do anyway, even if I wasn't asked to."

"Huh…" Liechtenstein murmured and looked down, "that's pretty much what my brother did when he saved me years ago during the famine in my home. He wasn't clear on why he saved me, but he just did anyway."

"You don't need a reason sometimes, I suppose," Sweden said, going back to examining the window before pulling the curtain over it. "I'm saving you anyway because I wouldn't live with the thought that I left you defenceless if I walk away. I'd never forgive myself."

"Oh…" Liechtenstein mumbled and sat back down on the bed. "So now what? We got shelter, but I don't know about food…"

"I found a snowmobile in the outhouse along with some firewood, planks and tools," Sweden said and sat down beside her, "if we can't build a boat, then we'll have to change our plans. We'll ride to the west."

"Oh, great!" the girl smiled brightly, but then her face dropped, "but what about those dogs outside? I don't want them to starve, but I don't want them to… to die either…" Sweden understood what she meant and his hand rested on her shoulder.

"You won't need to worry. I won't shoot them. They may even help us," he said reassuringly, "first, I'll need to tame them, but we shouldn't be in their personal space as much as possible in order to gain their trust."

"What are you going to do?" Liechtenstein asked nervously, watching him as he stood up and picked up his rifle off the floor.

"I'm going to get them something to eat first, so they won't attack me out of hunger," he began and checked his gun for ammunition.

"Oh, okay," the girl smiled slightly, "will they be friendly after that?"

"They should be… I saw tracks of wild animals around, so I should find something. I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" Sweden looked at her. Liechtenstein nodded. "If you think someone is trying to get in here, just hide under the bed, alright?"

"Got it…" the girl nodded again.

"Have the chair pushed against the door since there's no lock and if someone tries to get in, it'll give you some time to hide…" Sweden pointed at the chair, but Liechtenstein interrupted quickly.

"I-I'm sorry to interrupt, but how will you get in here?" she asked.

"I'll knock four times, and then I'll wait for you to open the door." The man rapped his knuckled against the wooden door to demonstrate; just four simple knocks.

"Okay, I'll remember," she nodded. With that, Sweden stepped into his snow-caked boots and opened the door, but Liechtenstein ran over and suddenly hugged his arm. "Be safe, okay? And why aren't you wearing your coat? You'll freeze!" she fretted, picking his coat off the floor and shook some snow off it.

"I'll only be out for a few minutes," the man patted her head, "I promise I'll come back…"

"Wh-what will I do while you're gone…?" her voice wobbled and her eyes glazed over. "I don't feel safe if you're gone, I never felt safe since big brother disappeared!" She sniffled and coughed hard into her hand. Sweden leant his rifle against the wall and kneeled down to pull her into a hug, petting her hair.

"Don't worry… I promise I'll return. I won't break my promise," he murmured, "but can you do one thing for me while I'm gone?" He felt the girl nod her head. "Do you know the trunk at the foot of the bed? Could you look in there and organise and tidy the things in there? There may be some useful things in there that can really help us while we're living here. I even saw some medicine bottles in there."

"Okay, I will," Liechtenstein sniffed and wiped her eyes, breaking the hug.

Sweden gave her a small smile, standing up. "Good girl. I'll be back very soon as promised, okay?"

"A-alright…" Liechtenstein smiled slightly, watching as Sweden picked up his rifle and stepped outside, closing the door. The girl took the chair and propped the seat against the door handle before stepping to the side to glance out the window, watching Sweden's tall figure walk away into the snow and towards the forest.

* * *

Sweden shivered a little, but walked on casually past the trees at the edge of the giant forest until he reached a small clearing where his remaining 4 reindeer are at with their guide rope tying them all to each other and to a thick tree branch that the man tied them to earlier. The ungulates looked at him before going back to eating some berries off a bush, though one still looked on as the Swede untied their part of the guide rope and made it so that the animal is freed from his companions. But Sweden held onto his harness and began to lead him away from the group and further down into the forest to where a cold river was flowing at. The reindeer trotted on, unaware of the man's plans for the animal as it leant down to drink from the water; it may be freezing cold, but the animal seemed desperately thirsty from so much running and walking yesterday and today.

It is then that Sweden lifted his rifle and stepped back to create space between him and the drinking animal. He took a careful aim at the creature's head before firing and the animal collapsed immediately to the ground, dead.

Back with the 3 reindeer, they suddenly raised their heads at the shooting noise and became jumpy, trying to pull from their guide ropes, but their master walked past them while dragging the carcass of their former companion without giving them a glance.

Sweden walked on while dragging the carcass when he stopped suddenly and fell to his knees, coughing harshly into his hands and trembled all over. The cold is getting to him. He was sure that he'd be alright for 10 minutes without his sweater or coat. He better hurry back to Liechtenstein or else…

He wiped his bloodied hands on his trousers and picked up his rifle, held the back hooves of the reindeer and carried on walking back to the cabin until he got to the clearing and saw the cabin in sight. The dogs seemed to have finished eating their dinner from earlier, but now they turned their attention to Sweden and tried to run to him, barking loudly, but their chain leashes kept them in place. The Swede stopped short a few feet away from them and tugged a pocketknife from his pocket before cutting into the flesh of the reindeer. It took some time, but he finally cut through all the muscles and yanked the rest of the leg off with ease before tossing it towards the restrained pack of dogs and they dug right into their food, but the other half of the group snarled as their companions got some of the meat first. That will change. Sweden flipped the reindeer carcass over and repeatedly sliced into the other back leg until he could pull the leg away from the main body and heaved it onto his shoulder before throwing it and the other dogs managed to get to it. Their new master cut more flesh off the reindeer into bite-sized chunks, throwing them to the dogs before he kicked the remaining parts of the deer over to the canines, but they slowed down their eating speed as it became evident that they're well and truly fed. A couple of the smaller dogs yawned and retired into their kennels while a greedy friend carried on chewing a leg bone.

Satisfied that the dogs are happy with their large meal, Sweden went back to the cabin and knocked four times on the wood. He heard Liechtenstein gasp from inside the cabin and then a sound of a chair being forced away from the door was heard before it was yanked open, and the girl herself lunged forward and hugged Sweden around his waist tightly.

"Are you alright?" she asked quickly, looking up at him. "I heard someone shoot a while ago!"

"That's me, don't you worry," he hugged her back, petting her hair again. "The dogs are eating right now."

"Oh, thank goodness," Liechtenstein breathed out a sigh of relief, smiling, "I'm so glad they're not starving anymore."

"Ja, they won't," Sweden let go of her and they both stepped inside, closing the door and propped the chair against the door. "Did you find anything useful in that trunk?"

Liechtenstein smiled brightly. "I found a lot of medicine and tinned food hidden in a bag!" She walked over to the table where she lined up various types of tinned food together in alphabetical order as well as some medicine bottles, empty syringes with their caps still on and boxes. Sweden smiled a little and patted her shoulder.

"Well done, these will really help us," he congratulated and picked up a medicine box, reading it.

"From what I found, we have painkillers, headache pills, syrup cough medicine, antibiotics…" Liechtenstein began listing the medicine she found, "I think this man stole from a hospital too because of the antibiotics here. And then we got insulin, but I'm not diabetic…" she blinked at the taller man beside her. "Are you?" Sweden shook his head.

"Antibiotics are useful. Are there any vaccines?" Sweden asked. Liechtenstein shook her head.

"There were a lot of names that I can't understand because they're in Russian…" she murmured sadly. "Can you read Russian?"

"Only a little bit of Russian," the Sweden explained and picked up a random box that was in a pile of medicines that have foreign languages on them. The box is bright red. "Ah, this seems to be a container of cough syrup."

"Wow, I wish I could read Russian," Liechtenstein smiled, impressed.

"How old are you?" Sweden asked, opening the box to pull out a small, brown glass bottle and a plastic spoon.

"Uhm… I'm not really sure…" the girl looked away, unsure.

"This medicine is in-date, luckily. Have you coughed up any more blood?" Sweden asked softly, looking at her. Liechtenstein sadly nodded. He began to pour some yellowy gel onto the spoon and put the bottle back on the table. "Okay. I'll assume it's safe to give you children's medicine since it shouldn't be too strong. Say 'ahh'."

Liechtenstein suddenly giggled and opened her mouth, allowing the Swede to put the spoon into her mouth carefully and she quickly licked the gel up and swallowed it before she could taste anything. She frowned a little in distaste when her tongue managed to register a sharp lemony taste. "Ew, it tastes disgusting…" She screwed her face up and tried not to gag.

Sweden couldn't help but be amused at her child-like reaction. "One spoonful is enough for today and the packet says to continue to the course of medicine until the bottle is empty; One spoonful every morning an hour before breakfast."

"Aw boo…" the girl pouted, "I can't wait to finish the medicine then…" she coughed again into her hand and she held her stomach. Worried, Sweden spoke up.

"Is the medicine hurting you?"

"N-no, my stomach feels weak… I coughed so much…" she rasped and coughed into her hand again.

"I'll get you some water, did you find any purifying salts in the trunk?" Sweden asked urgently. Liechtenstein looked at him.

"What are those? The only salts I found are these two boxes…" she took a white box off the table and handed them to Sweden. "Are these the kind of salts that you put on your food?"

"No, not these," the man grimaced, "these is poisoning salts. Let's NOT eat or drink them. Is the other box the same?" He promptly threw the box into the empty bin in the corner.

"No, the packaging is different," the girl shook her head and she passed the second box to him. The Swede nodded as he read the box instructions.

"Perfect – these iodine salts will definitely help us. I'll go out and draw some water," he patted her head and turned around, grabbing his coat this time.

"Where are you going?" Liechtenstein suddenly spoke up and ran to his side.

"I went past a river earlier. I found a bucket in the outhouse that can really help us carry some water too," he explained, opening the door. "Remember the rules. Use the chair against the door handle, and wait for my 4 knocks." His companion took a breath and nodded, stepping over to hug him.

"Be safe, okay?"

"I promise… and where are the reindeer right now?" Liechtenstein asked suddenly, "I just realised they're not with us…"

"I don't know where Dancer wandered off to and the reindeer I rode on earlier bolted," Sweden explained. "The other 3 reindeer are in the forest tied to a tree by a feeding patch. They're not going hungry, so they're safe."

When Sweden left the cabin and Liechtenstein pushed the chair against the door, it is only now that she realised what the man said.

2 missing reindeer, 3 in the forest… weren't there 6?


	3. Chapter 3

The fireplace itself is quite large and deep, deep enough to have two grates above it for food to be cooked on. Besides water (which is currently being purified by the iodine salts in the bucket) Sweden also went out to fetch a couple of logs of firewood to keep the fire going so that their meal of eggs and beans could be cooked. There's a counter in the corner along with a pile of random-sized dishes, but there's no oven or sink or any running water at all. The two occupants are lucky that the cabin isn't that far away from a nearby river, but they are limited in iodine salts and are unsure of the safety of drinking water straight from the river.

Liechtenstein's stomach growled and she promptly apologised with a small laugh at the noise. "Oh, s-sorry about that, I only ate that chocolate with you."

"We'll only stay in this cabin until I finish making that boat so…" he smiled, taking the pot off the grate and poured some beans onto Liechtenstein's dish before giving himself the remaining helpings. "We will most likely have enough tinned food left to take with us to last us until we get to Iceland. It should take me about 3 weeks to make the boat if I get right to work tomorrow."

"May I help you build the boat?" his companion asked and she picked up her dish. Sweden nodded and used a spatula to place two eggs onto her plate. Liechtenstein sighed in relief, "thanks. I can't stand just sitting around and doing nothing."

"You can be the forewoman then as well and motivate me to keep going," Sweden added and picked up his fork, beginning to cut some of the egg white and ate it. "And pass me some tools."

"It doesn't sound like I'll be doing much, but okay," Liechtenstein smiled as she started to eat her beans.

"Is the food good?"

"It's fine, thanks."

* * *

Bedtime approached as the sun began to set and Sweden came back in the cabin after checking up on the dogs outside.

"They seemed subdued when I came close, but they don't seem to trust me," he reported to Liechtenstein after she drank some water from the bucket. She then dipped the used dishes and cutlery in the bucket and used a spare cloth to wipe them clean and put the cutlery to dry out on the counter, next to 4 glasses of water that's been treated. Sweden took one and began to drink all of the water in the glass before sighing in satisfaction.

"So now its bedtime," Sweden stated simply, putting the glass back upside-down. "Do ya want to use the bathroom first?"

"Uh…" Liechtenstein looked around the cabin, knowing there isn't a bathroom. Hell, it's just one room and there isn't anywhere private to 'go'. "I'll be outside and I'll come back straight away."

"Hm. Go ahead," Sweden shrugged as he folded up the fur blankets, leaving the other non-fur sheets on the bed. Liechtenstein immediately went outside.

With the fur blankets, Sweden stacked the folded blankets under the bed, but leaving a small gap in case Liechtenstein needs to hide for some reason. When he put down the 6th and final fur blanket, the door got knocked 4 times and Liechtenstein charged inside, shivering violently before slamming the door shut, breathing heavily.

"The dogs surprised me," she panted and sealed the door with the chair, "I… went around the back."

"Good. I moved the fur blankets out of the way," Sweden pointed to the blankets under the bed. "But if we get too cold, we'll have to use one."

"Oh, okay…" Liechtenstein sighed softly and she opened the trunk, looking at clothes, "I haven't looked at all of the clothes yet, but I think there's a big shirt that might fit you." She pulled out a plain, black t-shirt and showed it to the Swede, who accepted it.

"Ja, it's my size. Thanks, Liechtenstein," he thanked her and turned around, taking his current white shirt off and the girl blushed, looking into the trunk to avoid staring. She spotted another large shirt, a red one, and she picked it up. It's even larger than the shirt that Sweden is wearing, so she slipped it on over her head and down her body. It's so large that it went down to her calves.

"Isn't that too big for ya?" Sweden asked and sat down on the bed, "it doesn't matter if we change for bedtime or not."

Liechtenstein shook her head. "No, this shirt's okay… Uhm, could you look away please?"

"Ja, of course," Sweden moved around and looked at the wall until he heard the girl say she finished changing. Liechtenstein folded her clothes neatly and put them on the table beside the tinned food and crawled onto the bed, moving to lie down under the sheets by the wall. The red shirt is more like a nightdress on her.

"Does that feel warm?" the Swede asked her as he settled underneath the duvet as well, glancing at her.

Liechtenstein smiled and nodded, "ja, it's made out of cotton too. It feels great to wear."

"That's good," her companion spoke quietly and relaxed, staring up at the ceiling. "Liechtenstein, may I tell ya something?"

The girl blinked, looking at him. "Sure. What is it?"

"We will see our families again," Sweden simply stated and coughed into his hand before resuming speaking with a ewakened voice, "just don't worry. I'll get ya to your home…"

"B-but… Switzerland will be at Iceland's place…" Liechtenstein sat up and wiped a small droplet of blood off Sweden's chin. The man coughed again, but only to clear his throat.

"Exactly… your family is your home," he murmured, lying back against the pillows.

"Oh, Sweden…" Liechtenstein muttered and snuggled close against his arm, hugging it, but then the Swede rolled onto his side and pulled her into a careful hug, stroking her hair. "You're family too. If you want to, that is…"

"Ja, I wouldn't mind being family to you," Sweden chuckled. The girl smiled at that and hugged him back, burying her face in his chest.

"Goodnight, Liechtenstein."

"Goonight-" Lichtenstein stopped and coughed into her hand, but she sounded dry. Sweden's eyes widened and he immediately sat up and got out of bed, fetching the poor girl a glass of water. She took the glass and drunk half the glass, but coughed again and a bit of blood stained the water. Sweden pried it out of her hand gently and put it on the counter again.

"Do you feel better?" he asked worriedly, sitting back down beside her. The girl gave him a confident smile and a nod.

"I think that disgusting medicine helped me with my headache more than it helped with my coughing," she explained.

Sweden sighed in relief, resting his hand on her forehead. "But it's not helping your fever…"

"I'm fine, Sweden, okay…?" Liechtenstein yawned and her eyes drooped shut. Her breathing lightened and her chest rose normally with even breathing that has a very slight rasp to it. The man watched her slowly fall deeper into her sleep and he leant down to kiss her burning forehead; he then got up and moved to sit at the desk in the corner, resting his head in his hands hopelessly while shaking his head.

* * *

It's a full moon tonight, which helps light up the cabin a little considering that Sweden couldn't sleep yet. Not after seeing the girl coughing up some blood. Seeing Liechtenstein cough up blood worried Sweden greatly, which is why he's sitting at the desk looking at the medicines that the girl organised. His luck is getting worse as he realised that none of the medicines work on the illnesses that the two have mysteriously obtained.

He pondered, staring at the wall… Why them, and not terrorists? Why can't diseases discriminate against certain people instead of innocent young girls? Why can't the corrupt and greedy drop like flies instead of the poor and needy? How is the world outside Liechtenstein and Sweden's Siberian home faring? How many people died from this illness? Have any scientists created a vaccine yet? There's far too many questions asked and too little answered.

The worst thought came to Sweden as soon as he thought about the other Nordics. What if they're all dead before they could make it to Iceland? Could they have been murdered? The thought made the man grunt furiously and quickly thought of Switzerland's possible welfare. No. The last thing he wants is to imagine the Swiss man in any horrible condition, but he doesn't want to give Liechtenstein any false hope. Would she still want to live on if anything happened to her brother? She said that Sweden is family, so she's living for him now…

Sweden looked over at the bed, seeing his patient sleeping, looking relaxed at last. It even seems like she's smiling a little. He never thought that he'd have gotten this far in Siberia with someone as vulnerable as a child ('or is she a young teen?' his mind questioned curiously) but he now noticed how much of an eye-opening experience it was to experience survival with someone. In fact, it's been a long time since he went through a period of time where danger was around every corner. He had Denmark and Norway to protect him, as did he to the fellow Scandinavians. But this time it's different. He has a bigger burden now to protect Liechtenstein and he'll vow to Odin to protect her at all costs without expecting anything in return from her.

Liechtenstein said that Sweden can be part of her family.

Sweden couldn't agree any more strongly. He has now created a mental declaration of himself as her protector and family. And no other type of bond will be necessary.


	4. Chapter 4

A rabbit chewed some grass happily while it listened to the gushing of the river beside it. Its fur is a pure shade of white to match the snow around it and it has large black eyes. It heard something, however, as the rabbit suddenly looked up and stared around fearfully before a gunshot was heard and the rabbit got struck at the head with a bullet, immediately killing it.

"Did I hit it right?"

"Yes, you did. That was a perfect shot."

From behind some bushes, Liechtenstein stepped out while carrying Sweden's rifle and wiped her eyes. Her companion petted her hair reassuringly. "The rabbit didn't feel any pain at all, so it's not suffering." Sweden walked over to the dead animal and picked it up. "It's got a good weight to it too."

"Mmm…" Liechtenstein mumbled, not looking at the animal.

Sweden looked at her, putting the dead rabbit into a bag. "The tinned food won't last us forever. It's important we know what we can and cannot eat."

"I'd rather that we eat the tinned stuff…" the girl grumbled, "I don't like shooting."

"Your aim is perfect enough. If you like, I'll do the hunting from now on," Sweden volunteered and took the gun out of her hands, slinging it over his shoulder. Liechtenstein nodded and began to walk with Sweden through the forest.

"Ja, you can do the job…" she agreed, "I'll stick to washing the dishes and cutlery."

The Sweden just nodded, walking alongside her quietly. The snow has melted a little bit over the past few days that they lived together in the cabin.

"I need to check the traps while we're at it," Sweden added, "hopefully we get something big for the dogs."

"O-okay…" Liechtenstein murmured, swaying a little before stopping to cough harshly into her hand. "I don't feel so good…" Sweden wrapped an arm around her, leaning her against him.

"We'll get you back to the cabin first then; I'll check the snares later," he spoke gently, walking her along. She nodded, feeling sleepy and heavier to the point it is becoming harder for her to walk without almost tripping over the snow.

"Here, let me carry you," she heard Sweden say and felt herself being picked up and carried by the tall man. She leant her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes.

"Thanks… I'm sorry for this," she spoke lowly.

"Don't be. I'm sure Denmark would do the same for me if I'm close to passing out," he replied and carried on walking. "Well, after yelling at me to stop playing around."

"Your brother sounds wonderful," Liechtenstein giggled, "I'm happy that you got someone like him."

"Don't tell him this, but I'm glad too. I can trust him to keep an eye on the others," Sweden smiled slightly. His companion laughed weakly.

"Do you think they have everything they need in Iceland?" she asked, wondering. "Like food, proper running warm water and working medicine?"

"I'm absolutely sure they have," Sweden replied, "they have a lot of whaling boats too to help with fishing."

"I don't like whaling…" Liechtenstein yawned, "whales are beautiful… they're not domesticated like farm animals…" Sweden rolled his eyes at this with a small smile.

"You never lived like we did. You wouldn't understand," he commented.

"I'm not being a vegetarian because there are barely any plants that are safe to eat…" the sleepy girl mumbled, "but I'll take my chances with mercury-poisoned whale flesh when we get to Iceland."

Sweden shrugged, carrying on walking. The sun is currently out, but the air is still freezing cold even though it's the middle of the day. At least it is easier to see through the thick woods of this massive forest.

* * *

They soon got back to the cabin and Sweden went inside, resting the sick girl on the bed. She took her own boots off and allowed her friend to pull the duvet sheets over her body. He kissed her still-burning forehead. "Early night for you then. I'll be outside, working on the boat if you need me, okej?"

Liechtenstein could barely utter a word, but lifted her head to make a nod and then she promptly feel asleep, snoring lightly again.

Nowadays, the days would just pass quietly with very little going on and absolutely no visitors have come to bother the duo at all. Sweden, with a heavy heart, shot more of his own reindeer every 3 days to give to the dogs to quell their hunger. 9 days. And if the snares don't capture any suitable food for the dogs, then they'll starve. That was when Sweden created a new plan.

He took his pocketknife out of his pocket and walked over to a dog that is eating a reindeer leg ravenously. It is a black and white Malamute, a breed of dog that is powerful and strong for pulling sleighs. The sleigh beside the cabin is practically useless as it was discovered that it did not have any reins to go with it, so the sleigh is being taken apart right now to make the boat. The dog snarled as Sweden approached. He noticed that the collar seems too tight on the dog, so he quickly seized the collar with his left hand, making the dog bark violently at him, but the man is stronger, he can hold the canine down. His pocketknife swiftly slid under the leather of the collar and sliced the thick material, freeing the dog from its restraint.

The dog growled at the Swede, but it eventually stopped and went back to its meal, wagging its tail. Sweden carried on cutting the collars of the other 8 dogs until only 3 dogs remained with intact collars. But then he closed his pocketknife and put it back into his pocket and knelt down to only loosen the collars a little. He decided to keep 3 of the dogs to serve as guard dogs while the other 9 dogs are free to go. But even though they're technically free, the freed dogs still wandered around close to the cabin to either groom each other or sleep in the dog kennels that they resided in for ages. It seems like they don't want to leave their 3 collared companions. A couple of the dogs immediately went to nip each other, only to move onto mating with each other aggressively. Sweden politely turned around and walked into the outhouse to give the lucky couples their privacy. If there's going to be a pack of dogs living around the cabin, then they'll have to hunt for their own food. They descended from wolves, so it wouldn't be too hard for them.

The Swede already created the frame for the boat. Now all he had to do is build up the body for it. Luckily he has plenty of wooden planks in the corner as well as nails and paint to colour the boat white. Liechtenstein can help him paint it. There are two brushes, after all.

* * *

In bed, Liechtenstein woke up slowly, feeling that her fever has calmed down a little. She thinks the fever medicine is working, but her forehead still feels slightly warm. Nonetheless, it is not as bad as before. She slipped out of bed and walked to the trunk, opening it. She found some more trinkets in there like old movie tickets, some children's plastic toys and jewellery. Sweden said most of the jewellery is genuine and are valuable, but jewellery is hardly useful during a pandemic. If you're going to make a trade, food or fuel is the new global currency. But Liechtenstein loves the sapphire necklace that she found inside the box full of jewellery. The single piece of sapphire was cut to be in a round shape and framed with gold to link to the delicate gold chain. She put it on around her neck, glad that the chain isn't too long or too short. Liechtenstein coughed a little because of her tickly throat.

Four knocks on the door interrupted her thoughts and she jumped, walking to the door and opened it to allow Sweden to enter, taking his boots off.

"Takin' a quick break," he remarked. "I released 9 of the dogs outside."

"Huh? Really?" Liechtenstein stared, "why?"

"Having 12 dogs will be too much to feed, so we're having 3 instead to be our guard dogs. But the other dogs look like they'd rather live close to us," Sweden explained. The girl smiled.

"Aww… Do you think they like us?" she asked, cheering up.

"Ja," Sweden chuckled, "that's why I gave them the food we caught in the snares so that the dogs will see us as friendly."

"Oh, great!" Liechtenstein smiled brightly, "have you checked the snares?"

"I didn't have time to. I was busy making the boat, but at least I'm halfway to finishing it…" Sweden could just smile at the sight of hope flashing up on the girl's face. He spotted her necklace and reached down to pick it up, examining the stone. "Sapphire? Do you like this necklace?" he asked, smiling slightly.

"Ja, I love it," Liechtenstein giggled. "It reminds me of you."

"Really?" the Swede blinked, "how come?" He double-checked the gem itself.

"I dunno… it must be because your flag is blue," the girl smiled, "blue is such a cool colour."

"It's a cold colour," the man chuckled, shaking his head. "Nobody I know likes the cold."

"I like the cold, it means that I can slow down and take a break," Liechtenstein chuckled and walked back to the trunk, searching through the box of jewellery for something to suit the man. Earrings are a big no-no because of the risk of passing on certain diseases, the rings look too tiny to fit the man's fingers, she's not sure if he's into wearing feminine-looking jewellery (though she briefly fantasised an image of Sweden looking delighted wearing heels and over a dozen rings), the wristwatches are either broken or their batteries have stopped working… But then she picked up a small silver object. It is a silver dragon with its wings folded close to its body and its eye is bright red – a tiny gem of ruby that has been cut extremely intricately. It's an ear cuff. "I found something for you~!" she cheered and handed the object over to him.

"Huh, thank you…" Sweden thanked her, examining the dragon. "It looks amazing… can you help me put it on?"

"Sure!" Liechtenstein smiled brightly and took the cuff, carefully fitting it onto the man's outer ear so it looks like the dragon is climbing up his ear. "I think I got a mirror in the trunk…" She quickly searched through the large box and pulled out a marble-handled hand mirror, showing it to him. Sweden turned his head and smiled at the ear cuff.

"I like it."

"It really suits you too!" Liechtenstein giggled and put the mirror down, "too bad there doesn't seem to be a matching ear cuff anywhere, I'd put it on your other ear… oh."

She looked at Sweden's other ear. It already had the bandage removed from his ear lobe and it's been cleaned, but it looks like a little deformed lump of flesh, still bright red and raw. He'll need an examination from a doctor to check if it's safe to be operated on to correct its shape.

"I'd rather not have it changed. What's done has been done," he remarked and touched his ear lobe, frowning a little. "It's swelling though."

"Will now be a good time to use those antibiotics?" Liechtenstein suggested, "I know how to use a syringe."

Sweden disagreed. "We better not. We should wait until we find a real doctor."

"But what if you got an infection…?"

"I'll be fine, Liechtenstein, I'll have it checked when we get to Iceland," he reassured her.

"Alright…" the girl sighed and looked at her necklace.

Unsure of the uncomfortable silence, Sweden spoke up and put his boots on. "I'll go and check the snares. Usual protocol." Liechtenstein nodded at that, but without meeting his eyes. Sweden zipped up his jacket and lifted his rifle out of the umbrella stand before leaving the log cabin.

* * *

When he walked outside, Sweden let out a huge sigh and touched the silver of his ear cuff before taking it off and pocketing it. The metal will conduct the cold and chill his ear out. He walked on towards the forest where he proceeded to glance around, looking out for hunters. He found it unusual that nobody attacked yet. A log cabin is perfect shelter from the explosive blizzards of Siberia, anyone would kill to have perfect shelter that like that. But at the same time, he's thankful that Liechtenstein is safe up to this point.

Sweden approached one of the snares that he had set up, seeing that a young deer foal has gotten its leg trapped and its body dangled in the air, panicking and kicking its free legs wildly. Its antlers were barely growing from the stumps on its head. But the foal looks meaty enough to feed the dogs back at the cabin. Taking out his pocketknife, he walked up to the foal, forcing it to hold it still by grabbing its ears and raised the blade against it… but he couldn't quite get around to forming the strength to slit its throat. Instead, he put the pocketknife away, slowly lifted his rifle and shot the animal in the head. It is now dangling from the snare hanging in the tree, completely lifeless. There, a very quick and painless death. But the Swede wished that he hadn't used up a valuable bullet. There's only so much ammunition that he can use before he runs out.

It took him a while to bring the snare down as well as the kill, as well a few more minutes setting up the snare again so that he can capture more prey. But by tomorrow morning, he should capture another deer or a rabbit. As he finished setting up the snare, he suddenly heard someone crying. He got onto his guard already, tossing the kill to the floor and held his rifle tightly and aimed it at a tree where the crying came from and is getting louder. It's a baby's cry.

"Hvad…? A baby?" he frowned and walked cautiously towards the tree, looking around it and he stopped, staring at a young woman as she cradled her baby in her arms. She had blood on her neck that looked like it dribbled from her mouth and her face was flushed bright red from a horrible fever, but her cheekbones are highly prominent like she hasn't eaten a proper meal in a long time. The woman stared at him, mouth agape and eyes wide.

"What are you doing here?" Sweden asked clearly. The woman said nothing while her baby continued to wail on. This isn't good. The crying may attract bandits. "Answer me. Or do you not understand English?"

The woman nodded. "Yes. English, I know…" she shivered all over. She's barely wearing any warm clothes, just trousers, boots and a long-sleeved shirt. Her eyes travelled to his rifle, unoffended by the sight while her baby continued to cry. "Is that yours…?" she asked weakly before coughing violently and doubled over, collapsing to her knees. She still held onto her baby with her free hand, but it quivered.

"Yes, it is mine, but… where did you come from?" Sweden asked her. He looked around, keeping his hearing open to any human noises, suspecting a trap. The woman let out a sob, wiping her bloody hand on her trousers.

"F-Finland…" she whimpered, "I travelled the wrong direction, I-I was s-s-supposed to go to Iceland, but I got lead the wrong way, and then my group got attacked b-by cannibals…!" Her voice cracked and she began to sob heavily, shaking. Sweden stared at her.

"What? Are there boats taking people to Iceland?" he asked her hurriedly, kneeling down to her level and dropped his rifle to hold her shoulders.

The woman nodded quickly, too quickly for her liking as it seemed to give her a headache—no, shaking her head gave her a migraine. Her baby continued to wail loudly. "Yes! But when our group was attacked, my husband said for us to meet at the f-family cabin somewhere in Siberia… he s-said to look out for 12 sleigh dogs…"

Sweden paled at the description.

"B-but I'm t-t-too hungry to go on… my baby is sick and I feel like I'm d-dying…" the woman's lips trembled, "I can't go on…" Her eyes fixed on Sweden's rifle, losing focus in her own eyes. "H-hey… can you… can you help me… stop feeling this pain in my chest and head…?" Her wide blank eyes gazed at the Swede in an unsettling way. "Can you give us a quick death…?"

Sweden felt his heart drop. "I don't think I can…"

"Please!" the woman shrieked, "I can't take it anymore!" Her baby cried harder and the baby coughed dryly, hacking up some blood too. A sick, tight feeling knotted in Sweden's stomach at the sickening sight. "Shoot me now or I'll do it myself!"

The man thought about the cabin and the woman's story. For a brief moment, he wondered if the man he killed was this woman's husband, unknowingly leading to her breakdown right now. Liechtenstein will never have to know about this. And the dogs could have more meat today… no. Sweden scolded himself for thinking that. These two are humans. But then again, Liechtenstein managed to shoot and kill a rabbit so that they could have something to eat, even though she was absolutely reluctant to do so. They killed that rabbit because it's necessary to eat and to teach the girl how to shoot to protect herself in the process. Shooting two sick humans would be the same as shooting a sick horse that cannot get better. It's easy enough to put an animal down because it'll spare them from suffering from their pain for any longer, but… it's just more complex for humans…

Sweden picked up his rifle quietly. "When would you like me to do it?"

The woman suddenly began to sob, nodding. "Right now. Shoot me first, please!" She pleaded loudly before coughing harshly again while her baby carried on crying. "Lord have mercy on us…" she whispered, closing her eyes and she made a quick cross on her own chest. The Swede's eye twitched at that, but decided against speaking and aimed his rifle at her head.

* * *

Liechtenstein blinked when she heard the sound of a gunshot echoing in the distance. She already heard one earlier, but when a third gunshot sound was heard, she frowned and decided to throw on her coat, doing it up before seizing her gun and decided to leave the cabin.

Closing the door behind her, she climbed down the steps and listened carefully, but she could hear no more gunshots. Liechtenstein decided to check on the boat out of curiosity and walked to the outhouse, looking at the half-finished boat and touched the wood gingerly. It feels very smooth. She has no idea that Sweden could even make a boat, but she put it down to his knowledge—

_Crash!_

She gasped at the noise and ducked behind the boat quickly, shutting her eyes tightly. It sounded like someone kicked the door into the cabin. Her heart began to race. Liechtenstein is completely on her own without Sweden. She can't hide behind this boat forever. If there's just one intruder, she thinks she has a chance of taking them on with her gun. But if there's more than one, she's done for.

She listened carefully for any noises, and for a while she can hear things being knocked over as well someone shouting loudly. It sounds like there are two people. She's got no chance of confronting them. But the Liechtenstein's heart began to race when she heard voices from the doorway to the outhouse.

"Man there's so much food in that cabin!" someone bragged, "we can have a feast tonight!"

"We can just get the rest of the gang to come camp out here. There are dogs too! We can teach 'em to be mean instead of lazing about in their damn kennels all day!" another voice laughed.

The girl gulped, still hiding behind the boat and she drew her weapon from her pocket, desperately wishing that Sweden would come to help her out.

* * *

Sweden dully walked through the forest while dragging the carcass of the captured deer, staring ahead with no particular emotions.

Let's just say that the woman and her baby are no longer suffering, and that Sweden is feeling extreme guilt taking over his conscience.

Suddenly, he heard gunfire banging loudly out of nowhere in a rapid rhythm and his eyes widened. The gunshots are coming from the direction where the cabin is. He dropped the carcass and lifted his rifle, immediately running back through the trees towards the cabin. It seems to take ages because he dodged between the giant trees and avoided tripping over. While he ran, he heard more gunfire firing rapidly, with a couple of shots firing afterwards that sounded like they came from a different gun.

But he kept running, panting heavily as well as coughing harshly, until he got to the clearing, seeing a man running on his left into the forest with evident panic. He was yelling his head off, but Sweden couldn't understand what he was wailing about, but then he quickly ran to the outhouse, where a corpse of a man is lying on the ground with his semi-automatic gun beside him, completely empty of any ammo.

"LIECHTENSTEIN!" Sweden cried out, looking into the outhouse. He heard no-one reply.

With a burst of energy he ran inside through the doors, glancing around and breathed heavily from all the running. There are holes in walls and even the ceiling where the semi-automatic weapon fired, but it all seemed so random. He ran around the boat he was building and saw the girl lying on the ground, shivering and holding onto her gun.

"Liechtenstein!" Sweden exclaimed and the girl gasped, suddenly rolling onto her side and fired a random shot out of impulse, but it missed the man's leg and he cried out. "It's me, Sweden! Those men are gone now!"

"S-S-Sweden!" Liechtenstein wailed, dropping her gun and embraced the Swede tightly, who also dropped his rifle to hug her back in a crushing hug. She began to sob heavily into his shoulder, sniffing and crying. "I w-was so afraid! I thought they were going to kill me!" she cried. Sweden squeezed her.

"Don't worry, I'm here now and they're gone," he spoke quickly and he held her face. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Liechtenstein sniffled and shook her head. "N-no, but they nearly sh-shot me…" Sweden pulled her close and hugged her again, patting her hair. "They shot the boat too…" Sure enough, Sweden glanced at the boat and there are a lot of small holes in the wood where the bullets sped through. It was a miracle that they all missed Liechtenstein.

"Forget about the boat," Sweden interrupted, hugging her tightly, "what matters is that you're safe!"

"But then how will we get to Iceland… oh!"

"What is it?" Sweden asked, looking at her. The girl's face is pale.

"O-one of the men said something about a gang… could we have been watched?" she stared at him.

Sweden looked at the corpse of the man. "Did you shoot him?" he asked quietly.

"Y-yes, but only twice because I missed his head… can you answer my question, please?" she pleaded. "Are we being watched by that gang they talked about?"

"Dammit," Sweden swore and he stood up, hugging the girl close. "We got the snowmobile – we still have a chance to get to Iceland, but it's going to take longer."

"But where will we go?" Liechtenstein asked, voice wavering from the crying. "The boat's no use, and we can't cross the sea in a snowmobile!"

Sweden put his hands on her shoulders, kneeling down to look into her eyes. "Liechtenstein… we may not have been completely safe in that cabin, but at least we had somewhere to relax and get our energy back in." Liechtenstein was about to interrupt, but he cut through. "But going east is pointless now. The only way to Iceland now is to go west. We got the snowmobile, we can use it and we WILL get across Northern Russia and Northern Europe to get to Iceland. Time is against us and sooner or later that gang may attack us."

The girl watched him, taking deep breaths. "So… what shall we do right now?" she asked, gulping and shaking with anticipation.

"We grab some food immediately into a backpack – the one that you found in the trunk – and you get a much food into it as possible, don't forget the tin opener either. I'll get the snowmobile prepared and I'll cut the dogs free from their collars. Got it?" he asked her and Liechtenstein nodded. "I'm giving us 5 minutes to get everything ready. No later than that or we'll be seriously compromised on time. Let's go!"

* * *

With that, Liechtenstein grabbed her gun and quickly ran out the outhouse and charged towards the cabin, going inside and grabbed a backpack. She hurriedly shoved some food packets and food tins inside, not forgetting a pair of scissors and a tin-opener. Meanwhile, Sweden cut the collars of the three dogs outside and they ran about, scratching their own necks. They watched as Sweden ran to the outhouse and came out a few seconds later, dragging the snowmobile outside. He opened the secret compartment under the back seat and stuffed two fuel cans inside before closing it, locking it with the handle. He rested the third and last can of fuel on the back seat, looking at the cabin and waiting for Liechtenstein to come out.

Liechtenstein ran out the cabin a few moments later, showing Sweden the contents of the heavy backpack. She panted out; "I finished! Have I got the right stuff?"

"Ja, that's great! Now let's go!" Sweden declared and sat in the driver's seat, revving the engine.

"No wait! I forgot the ammo on the table!" the girl cried out and charged up the steps to the cabin.

"Hurry!" Sweden shouted as the engine warmed up.

Just as Liechtenstein left the cabin and hopped onto the back seat of the snowmobile, they heard shouting coming from within the forest. It sounds like angry mob. Liechtenstein quickly put on the backpack and put her arms around Sweden's waist tightly with the can of fuel between their bodies, keeping it in place. "Now!" she cried out and the snowmobile suddenly shot off with a roar, thundering through the snow. Sweden grunted and swiftly turned the snowmobile around towards the edge of the forest, but running around it so that they're not inside. They heard guns going off before a loud boom filled the air and Sweden glanced back in shock as their cabin got blown up sky-high.

"I found a bomb in the trunk so I put it on the fire grate!" Liechtenstein called out above the engine's noise, "the instruction did say it needed to grow very hot, so I left it on the fire grate!"

"Liechtenstein, you're definitely your brother's little sister!" Sweden smiled and drove on.


	5. Chapter 5

Time passed as the snowmobile continued to speed through the snow with Sweden and Liechtenstein riding on it. The scenery around them passed quickly while the engine roared; Sweden preferred that the engine should stay quiet, but the noise is more of a comfortable distraction for his companion, who hasn't spoken since they left the scene. Sweden focused his gaze ahead of him, watching out for obstacles that could hinder their journey. Time is pretty much lost on them for the duration of their journey as Sweden concentrated more on getting him and his companion to safety. The scenery changed from time to time from riding through small villages with boarded up doors and window to long landscapes with a seemingly endless ground covered by snow.

Liechtenstein still hugged him from behind, enjoying the man's warmth. She pressed her face against the touch material of his jacket, closing her eyes. The can of fuel still rested snuggly between their bodies with no danger of it falling off. But the girl wishes that they can at least take a quick break…

As if to answer her thoughts, the snowmobile gradually slowed down as Sweden drove it to the middle of nowhere of a white winter wonderland. He glanced around, still sitting down with his hands on the key, to look for danger. The sky is dark grey with clouds lingering high, but it's certainly not snowing or raining.

"Sweden…?" Liechtenstein began nervously, looking around. "Is it safe here? There's practically nothing here…"

"That's good," the man sighed and he got off the snowmobile while stretching his arms, grunting at how stiff his limbs feel. "Nothing means that there is no danger."

"I guess that's good…" the girl mumbled and clambered off the large vehicle, copying Sweden's limb-stretching movements until she suddenly coughed into her hand. Licking her own teeth and mouth, she looked at the blood spatters on her glove. Not good. The splatters seem to be getting bigger the more she coughs. Her friend looked down at her and she quickly hid her hand behind her back and she piped up. "How long were we travelling for?"

Sweden wanted to ask about her hand, but decided to skip it. "I don't know. It feels like we've been moving for a few hours." The girl beside him sighed a little.

"I feel really tired… I wonder how the reindeer are doing…" she says sadly, wrapping her gloved hands together. "They must be lonely without us."

Sweden did not look at her. He took in a deep breath before exhaling, watching the white mist of his breath disappear into the chilly air. "They're doin' fine. They got each other," he lied, "I made sure they're all loose from the lead rope so they can wander around freely."

Liechtenstein smiled and rubbed her cheeks to bring some warmth to them. "I'm so glad you cared for them so much."

The Swede wished that she doesn't sound so innocent and oblivious about all of this. But then he began to wish that he stopped lying and tell her the truth about what he was really doing to the reindeer and the dogs and especially about his execution of two unarmed, sick people before their sudden departure from the log cabin. He couldn't get the scared look of that woman out of his mind. Or the face of the baby. But what's scaring him is how easily he forgotten who he shot first.

Sweden broke out of his trance when Liechtenstein tugged his sleeve, looking up at him worriedly. "Sweden? Are you feeling okay?" she asked anxiously, still holding onto his sleeve.

The man forced himself to smile. "Ja, I'm feeling fine…" he cut off when a cough left his throat and he covered his mouth. His forehead's burning again. He checked his glove and noticed blood… but strangely, there isn't as much blood as usual coughed up. His eyes widened. "Liechtenstein, I haven't coughed up much blood at all."

"Oh my gosh, really?" the girl gasped and jumped up and down to see his hand better. "That's amazing! Does that mean you're-" she coughed before carrying on, "-does that mean you're getting better?"

"I hope so, but… what about you?" he asks her. The girl smiled wide, nodding.

"I-I THINK I'm getting better!" she hummed, trying to sound cheery. But Sweden didn't notice her act and pointed at her bag.

"Did you pack the medicines?" he raised an eyebrow, smiling in amusement.

"Uuuuh… Hehe…" Liechtenstein laughed nervously, "I did, but I don't think I'll need to take anything…"

Sweden smiled and extended his hand out towards her. "Give me the cough medicine. You haven't taken your dose this morning." His friend groaned and facepalmed.

"But I don't think I'll need it…" she whined, but she slipped the backpack off her back and handed it to the tall male anyway. Sweden looked inside the bag at the disorganised mess, but luckily no bottles have been broken. He pulled out the yellow bottle of cough syrup, seeing that it only has enough liquid in it for one last dose. Seeing as there aren't any spoons packed inside, he unscrewed the lid off and poured the substance in it, handing it to Liechtenstein and she accepted it.

"There's only enough for one last dose," Sweden commented as the girl tilted her head up and licked up the remaining cough syrup from the lid. "It'll calm down your coughing at least…"

The girl only went "Mmm" in response and put the empty lid in the side pocket of the bag along with the bottle it came with. May as well dispose the empty bottle appropriately when there's a rubbish bin somewhere or a recycling bank.

"Shall we get moving then?" Liechtenstein asked, trying not to gag at the aftertaste of the medicine. She refrained from dancing on the spot at the thought of not taking any more of the dreaded cough medicine in future.

"Ja, once I check how much fuel we got," the Swede replied and he checked the panel above the centre of the handlebars, seeing how very little fuel they have left. "Not much." He sighed and turned to the back of the vehicle, unscrewing the lid to the engine. "Liechtenstein, could you get the fuel can ready for me?"

The Liechtensteiner nodded and her little hands lifted the large, heavy can before fumbling with the screw-on lid, gripping it tightly while trying to twist it open with a grunt. The lid eventually popped off and she breathed a sigh of relief. Sweden took the can with a small smile and began to fill up the engine.

"Tack," the man murmured. He used up all the fuel in one can, but it seemed to be enough to completely fill the engine up. "We better hold onto this too. Do you still have those matches from the cabin?" he looked at his companion and she nodded, pulling them from her pocket.

"Ja, I still do. Why are we keeping the empty can?" she asked, blinking her green eyes.

"Something useful… in case we meet any bad guys, I can use this to scare them away," Sweden explained, moving his body to sit on the driver's seat of the snowmobile. Liechtenstein clambered onto the back seat, resting the can between them.

"But… we don't have a fuse," she looked at the back of his head worriedly while the man stared forward. He tugged out a compass from his pocket, looking at the needles and at the evening sky. "There wouldn't be any time for us to run from it."

Sweden sighed… sadly? "With this world the way it is, I don't know if we'll ever see our families again. But I'm determined to get you someplace permanently safe, like Iceland, even at the cost of important things. If there's a situation that we both cannot get out of that will see us both dead as a result, I want to make sure that you don't live long enough to suffer… any prolonged deaths."

Liechtenstein gulped and glanced at the grey fuel can between them.

"And plus, there can only be so much bullets before we run out," Sweden spoke coldly. "If it means taking down our captors, I'll blow the can up whether it kills us or not. Being a prisoner of war will not guarantee you any safety at all. It's best to be dead than become someone's slave or plaything."

When he finished, he felt Liechtenstein's hand rest on his back before her small fingers curled and she rested her head against his back, shivering. Sweden blinked and suddenly felt panic arise in the pit of his stomach. Did he go too far? _'Dammit, why did I suggest suicide to a young girl?! She shouldn't be thinking about that kind of thing at her age!'_ his thoughts ranted and he turned his body around, swinging his leg over the console of the dashboard so that he can pull her into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be suggesting—"

"No." Liechtenstein interrupted him firmly, but while keeping her face buried in his chest. "If that's the right thing, then I'll go through it. But… can we keep two bullets, just in case?"

Sweden rested his chin on her head, closing his eyes while still hugging her close. This is one of those moments that he'll never forget when he felt his heart wrench. "…Alright," he breathed, "but only as a last resort. Got it? You have two bullets, and I'll have two as well."

"Thanks, Sweden." Their hug broke and Sweden turned again to face the front, sticking the key into the ignition. "…I'm glad that in a world like this, I have you and my own means of choosing how I want to die in case something goes wrong."

Sweden muttered under his breath, "As long as you have me, you won't need to worry about you dying at all." Liechtenstein didn't hear that properly, but before she could ask what he said, the snowmobile suddenly charged off speedily across the snow and she hugged him tightly to avoid falling off.


	6. Chapter 6

As Sweden drove the snowmobile, darkness slowly veiled the sky as evening approached with the undoubting promise of night time. Liechtenstein looking around worriedly; they're inside another large forest, but the trees are spaced out so they can drive the vehicle inside without any obstacles (though they still have to drive slowly to turn in time to avoid collisions). They can only use up so much fuel before they can get stranded later on.

"Liechtenstein, look!" Sweden suddenly spoke over the purr of the engine. The girl blinked and looked ahead of them. As they left the forest, a tiny hut appeared in the middle of another vast expanse of snowy land where a long railway track stretched over.

"Oh, wow!" the blonde girl chirped up loudly, "we can follow the tracks to Finland, right?"

Sweden stopped the snowmobile close to the small wooden hut with an odd look in his expression that Liechtenstein couldn't interpret. He almost seemed angry… The Swede got up off the drivers seat, holding up his rifle and aimed it at the hut. "Stand back." He warned the worrying companion behind him, and she complied by ducking behind the vehicle. Sweden slowly stepped towards the cabin, side-stepping to the side and walked towards the door. Swiftly kicking the door down, Sweden aimed his weapon to the inside of the small hut, but nobody was in. There is only a small desk and a chair inside with filthy windows that you could barely see through. The hut itself is about 3 meters tall, but the space is cramped; it's barely big enough to fit him and the girl inside. On the desk is a clutter of many old papers that are almost illegible with coal dust, all written in Russian. It irritated Sweden to the core that he knows some Russian, but punished his mind when he thought of how handy it is now that he knows that language.

"Railway… Taz… Free labour…" he frowned and blew some misty warm air at the paper in the hope of removing some dust without ruining the writing's quality.

"Mr Sweden…?" Sweden jumped at that and spun around, seeing Liechtenstein standing outside while hiding half of her side behind the door frame. She coughed a little, shivering from the cold. "Did you find anyone?"

"No," the man shook his head and he placed the papers down, "but I think I know what that railway is now."

"Really?" Liechtenstein stepped inside the small hut and Sweden pushed a chair out for her to sit on. The item creaked at the joints, but thankfully the chair isn't falling apart. "What about the railway?"

Sweden looked at the papers again, briefly translating some of the words in his head. "Do you know Joseph Stalin?"

"Mmhm," the girl nodded.

"Well… that railway was part of a project that used prisoners to build it, in harsh snowy conditions."

Liechtenstein's eyes widened. "In the snow? But isn't it extremely cold out there?"

"Ja, it is. Even in Spring, but we're practically within the Artic Circle," the man sighed, "political prisoners, even Soviets who survived the German POW camps, were sent to work on the railways. It's known as the Dead Road because so many people died. It's said that even thievery to feed starving siblings constitutes as a 'political crime.'"

Uncharacteristically, his friend glared. Even Sweden thought he was going to reel back from the dark look. "We need to destroy the railway. Or desecrate it," she spoke lowly. She meant that to sound dark, but it sounded like a whisper.

"We can't. The project was abandoned anyway about 60 years ago," Sweden frowned at her look and glanced out the window, trying to make sense of the landscape.

"I still want to do something. Something that can make the d-d-damn government pay for all those lost lives!" Liechtenstein raised her voice and stood up, making the chair creak loudly. Immediately, Sweden turned, narrowing his eyes at her in a way that made her feel as if the cold froze her blood. Liechtenstein's eyes widened and her mouth hung open in a small 'o' shape; her anger slowly drained out of her frightened expression.

"Sit," the man ordered sternly. The little blonde girl hesitantly shuffled backwards until her legs hit the chair and she slowly sat down, eyes fixed on Sweden's glasses. "Just… don't," he murmured and he looked at the desk, avoiding eye contact. "What's done is done. There's nothing you can do now that'll bring people back from the dead, no matter how much they didn't deserve to die for their beliefs."

Liechtenstein breathed out more of the misty air before closing her eyes to cough into her glove. But her eyes remained closed even when she finished coughing because tears began to prick at her eyes. Her burning cheeks feel temporary relief when the chilly tears ran over them from her tightly-squeezed eyelids. "Sweden…" her voice croaked and she brought her knees up to her chest and she hugged her legs close to her body. She sniffled.

Feeling his heart wrench at the scene, Sweden stepped over and crouched down to her height, reaching his arms out and leaning forward to pull her towards him in a soft embrace. With her face buried in his shoulder, the girl sniffed again and a sob escaped her throat while her small arms wrapped around his torso tightly.

"It's too cruel!" Liechtenstein cried weakly into the tough fabric of Sweden's coat. "They didn't' have to die! They should've just run and go back home to their families and friends and lovers and even children!" She coughed slightly, but suddenly gagged and hacked, immediately yanking herself out of Sweden's grip.

The Swede's eyes widened at Liechtenstein before looking at the shoulder of his coat, which was drenched with dark fluids. His heart almost stopped when the girl stumbled back into the chair and wheezed for air. Her eyes are unfocused, seemingly just randomly looking around to make sense of things.

"Shit!" Sweden swore and quickly dove forward to help her sit up properly, half-leaning her against the desk while she breathed deeply. "Liechtenstein, can you talk?" he urgently asked her and held her shoulder, looking at her face. Coughing drily now, she blinked a few times and wiped her teary eyes, looking at him while smearing blood over her cheeks.

"Sweden…? What happened…?" she spoke weakly, "my head burns so much, it hurts…! A-and I feel like shaking…" To prove her point, she raised her gloved hand and Sweden held it gently in his hand, feeling it quiver uncontrollably.

"Do you feel cold?" he asked sternly, hoping to get a straight answer that can help him. She nodded.

"Like I'm not wearing anything…" she murmured, before quickly thinking how wrong that sounded and her cheeks flared red with a heavy blush. "O-oh, sorry, that sounded so wrong—" She coughed again.

"Don't worry – come on, we should keep moving," Sweden interrupted and looked outside the busted door of the hut before scanning the landscape for danger and he tugged her outside towards the snowmobile. Liechtenstein suddenly tripped over her own boots and she shrieked in surprise, falling into the deep snow. Sweden swiftly fished her out of the snow and carried her under his arm while he trudged to the snowmobile and sat her on the passenger seat, helping her brush the snow off her.

"Thanks, Sweden, really, I can do this myself…" she mumbled, pathetically wiping at the white stuff to get it off her clothes. Sweden just stared at her and looked at the blood on his coat, thinking of how much horrors this girl has seen without giving up trying to move on, and of how much she needed to see before the madness of this crazy world takes its toll on her tiny soul.

"Liechtenstein… how do you do it?" the blonde male suddenly asked and he was met with a confused look. "How do you stay so strong despite… everything that's going on? For all we know, everyone we love could be dead or elsewhere instead of Iceland."

Liechtenstein looked down sadly at her own boots. "I don't know… I'm only going to Iceland because you're going there too and it makes sense that we go together."

The snowmobile creaked slightly as Sweden sat down beside her, looking down at his own feet too. "Ja… anyone would do that unless they know a shortcut…"

"But the ice caps are really thin and I could fall in and turn into a big ice cube if I just went over the Artic…" his companion muttered. "But I'm still going to go to Iceland, because big brother says that I must go there, and I will. No matter what." Sweden sighed quietly, looking at her.

"Liechtenstein… you should know something about this world," he began gently (with him speaking low to a whisper, but high enough to be heard), "it's rotten to the core. Nature is dangerous, animals are dangerous, the people are corrupt, but life is still worth living for if it's for yourself or for other people."

The blonde girl just stared at him. She is beginning to look really tired. "What are you trying to say?" she asked in a quiet voice. Sweden barely heard her, but carried on speaking.

"I'm saying that if anything happened to your brother or to my own…" He raised his large hand up at her. "I want to be your family… no, I need to be your family. I don't want you to be alone."

"Maybe you don't want to be alone more than I already am," Liechtenstein murmured. She raised her hand and gingerly touched the other man's hand, wrapping her protected fingers around his. "You always look lonely, like you're struggling to see properly."

"My eyesight is not the best, but it's adequate," the man smiled slightly, giving her hand a squeeze. His smile disappeared and he let go of her hand to rest his on her shoulder, all the while he looked at her eyes. "I want you to tell me now. Would you like me to give you any injections for your pain?"

Liechtenstein mustered all her strength to not feel repulsed at the idea of needles as she stared back, feeling herself tremble slightly. "I-I just want to sleep, is all…"

"Alright, but I got a good idea for that rope you packed in the back," the man commented and got off the snowmobile to search in the backpack, pulling out a needle and a long length of tough rope. "I'll still drive, but not without you being tied to me so you can sleep sitting up."

"Mr Sweden… I really like how you can come up with pretty random ideas with the limited number of items we have."


	7. Chapter 7

Liechtenstein was worried at first (heck, with the way the world is right now worry is her constant emotion) but when she sat back-to-back with Sweden on the snowmobile with him on the driver's seat and a long rope tied around their waists to keep them together, she relaxed considerably. She feels useful now too since she'll be literally watching their backs for danger.

"Ready? Are you comfortable?" Sweden asked, glancing over his shoulder. He felt the girl nod her head and he switched the ignition of the snowmobile, making the engine purr and vibrate.

Liechtenstein gripped the rope around her waist with her gloves, feeling as if her heart is trembling with anxiety. It almost leaped when the vehicle lurched forward and she gasped, body seizing up in place, but Sweden's body is as sturdy as a rock, not moving an inch once. She closed her eyes and took a few breaths before coughing a little into her hand.

She watched as the railway hut gradually disappeared into the distance along with parts of that despised railway line (she still plans to destroy it and tell Russia about it how sucky his leaders are without fear of consequence.) Being on the move now reassures her; it means getting away from… what, danger? The only dangers she could think of right now are bandits, gangs, militia of unwelcome screaming extremists with bombs for vests, food shortages, wild animals… She almost forgot to add her illness to that list, and she's sure that it's the most dangerous of all.

Liechtenstein is glad though that she is finally feeling warm in her clothes for the first time since they left the cabin. The thought of leaving behind a temporary home saddens her. Even though travelling reassures her, she wished that they could find a permanent home and fast. She just wants to settle down or better, wake up from this nightmare and stitch Sweden some pyjamas…

* * *

"Liechtenstein? Wake up, we found someplace to stay at."

Stuck in her dream, even as she sleepily woke up, Liechtenstein believed that it was Switzerland speaking to her and she murmured his name.

"Sorry, it's Sweden."

"Nh…?" the girl yawned softly, looking up at Sweden who has a bruised right cheek. Realisation dawned on Liechtenstein and she stared, gasping a little. She moved to sit up, but she was in Sweden's arms so he held her carefully. "Sweden!? What happened to your face? And…" she looked around at the trees surrounding them, but could not see the snowmobile anywhere or their bag of supplies. "Where's the snowmobile and the stuff?" she quickly asked, paling.

Sweden did not answer, but instead averted his gaze to look ahead. This place is an endless maze of similar deciduous trees, mostly pine. Unsurprisingly, there is still snow everywhere.

"I got ambushed while stopping to refuel the tank," he began to explain and walked, "I heard someone coming and shouting, so I had to hide you under my coat. Keep you warm. And hidden. There were 5 men with guns and a large dog, so I had no choice but to hand over everything."

Liechtenstein could feel his arms shaking. Despite what he said, he doesn't have his coat with him. She looked at him questioningly without saying a word. Sweden sighed.

"Their dog took the coat, but it cowered away as soon as it saw how bloody you are. The men thought I killed you, since the dog was whimpering like a pathetic puppy, but the dog still took the coat and I made off with you before they decide to do something crazy."

His companion closed her eyes and snuggled close to his chest, breathing in shaky breaths. She could've been taken away, and in her sleep too.

"H-how did I sleep through th-th-that?" her teeth rattled. All of a sudden, she feels cold again. She's still wearing all of her original clothes, but it's like they cannot insulate heat anymore.

"You're sick, that's why," the Sweden hugged her close, resting his chin on her head, "I won't let you sleep for too long."

That planted a new fear in the girl's mind. Sleeping will mean giving in to her illness and lead to death. She mentally created a new plan to stay awake and alert at all times.

But now they have another problem – finding shelter and food. And the last time they ate was back in the cabin… well over many hours ago. Their stomachs growled and neither commented on the funny sounds, feeling there is no time for joking or laughing. If either do laugh, it'll make them look manic.

But Sweden carried on walking through the forest, carrying Liechtenstein while determined to find shelter.

This place looks so endless…

"Sweden," Liechtenstein suddenly spoke up. It almost made the man jump in shock as he looked at her. "I still got my gun in my pocket. We can use that for… hunting."

Sweden huffed a little, shivering.

"Good. But we'll still need something sharp to skin animals and something to make a fire…" he remarked dully and he carried on walking, walking, walking.

His companion just closed her eyes, feeling incredibly tired from thinking and worrying. Her body lurched suddenly and she coughed hard into her glove. More blood appeared on the fabric and her eyes stung.

"I want to see my brother…" she whimpered, hiding her face in her hands.

Sweden said nothing, but kept on walking ahead without slowing down or stopping no matter how much Liechtenstein sobbed and trembled or coughed. He kept up a stern glare on his face, biting back the urge to flop down and give up – not as long as he's holding the girl in his arms.

* * *

They said nothing, but after a long while of travelling on foot the sobs from Liechtenstein calmed down until she's breathing lightly, sleeping away her fatigue in spite of her resolution earlier.

Soon, however, the trees began to disperse and thin out until Sweden officially left the forest. Luckily, he could see a small town with what appears to be guards around the borders. He began to weigh in what to do in his mind as he took slow steps down the long snowy slope and towards the checkpoint.

_'There must be a reason why I can't see bandits trying to get into this place,'_ Sweden wondered, but his thoughts are answered when he heard clicks of around 20 guns despite seeing only 3 guards aiming at him with rifles. He hugged Liechtenstein close, stroking her hair for reassurance. Some other guards must be well-hidden or camouflaged in the snow.

"We've been robbed! Please let us stay in town and then we'll leave as soon as we're ready again!" Sweden called out to the 3 visible guards, dressed in white clothing. They still kept their guns aimed at him, but glanced at each other. They can trust the hidden snipers to take out unruly visitors.

"I got a little girl here too! She's hungry and exhausted!" Sweden added, hoping that there's some humanity left in these people.

He sighed a little in relief when one of the guards lowered their weapons and their companions followed suit, but Sweden is sure that there is still a lone sniper who has their aim on him in case. The guard beckoned for the Swede to come over and he did so in a slow unthreatening manner until he's close enough to hear the woman speak.

"You Russian?" she glared at him, taking her shades off.

"Hell no. Swedish," he replied.

"Not good enough, but at least you look bearable. This girl your daughter?" The woman's expression didn't change.

Sweden was taken aback by the question, blinking. "Not really. She's… a sister to a co-worker of mine."

The guard frowned suspiciously. He wasn't exactly lying, but his hesitancy didn't score well.

"Why is she with you, then?" she asked.

Sweden snapped. "Can we just get her somewhere warm to sleep at? I've been walking for hours and she spent most of that time crying and hungry."

"I don't like your attitude, mister," the guard hissed.

"No, but at least your people skills have more to be desired than mine," the Swede countered.

The other two guards snorted and guffawed, leaning on each other for support. They didn't stop even when their leader barked at them to shut up.

"Shut up, you idiots!"

The commotion woke up Liechtenstein and she grumbled, yawning softly.

"What's going on?" she murmured, looking up at her carrier.

"Nothin', sweetie, just some rabble wondering if I kidnapped you or not," Sweden explained.

"O-oh? We're…" Words became lost when the girl saw the three guards and she shivered, not moving from her spot. The female guard saw her looking and stepped over, smiling a little.

"Hey, little girl, we're just going to get you and your brother's co-worker to a warm place, okay?" she spoke softly. Sweden raised an eyebrow at the guard for her change in attitude.

Liechtenstein just stared in shock, not being used to kindness from someone other than Sweden before nodding hesitantly.

"O-okay…"

* * *

Thinking about it now, Sweden believed that if he hadn't been accompanied by Liechtenstein, then he wouldn't have been allowed inside the desolate town full of sick people and their families. Nationalities are mostly mixed, but the town is predominantly full of Eastern Europeans. There are some Roma families too, but they were ordered to keep their children inside the caravans like how children of all families were told to lock the children in the abandoned homes for safety. In fact, with the snowy blizzard currently battering the town, nobody would even consider playing outside at the moment.

"Where are we, right now?" Sweden asked Nola, the female guard.

Nola has spent minute stoking the fire to get it to heat up the room. She turned to him and dipped the poker rod into its container.

"Just a few miles from Finland. I don't know what this place is, but when I got here this place was abandoned with corpses all over the place," Nola sighed heavily. "We burned them all after salvaging important items for survival like matches, guns, ammo, but the smoke attracted the families from other towns and they feel safe being among the living in one place, so we have a constant food crisis."

"What about bandits?" Sweden questioned.

"They're no trouble. I was trained in the Polish army, but being a female they've acted like pigs towards me," the woman growled and sat back in a worn-out chair, "at least now there's no laws around to stop me from killing sexist pigs in this town. I dunno about you, but the Roma families seem to feel at home seeing as we are all outcasts here."

"Well… there's really no point in having a social hierarchy in a post-apocalyptic world."

"Heh. Good point there. So," Nola leaned forward in her seat, staring at Sweden, "I didn't catch your name. Your co-worker's sister told me to call her Lily, but what's your name?"

The Swede just stared back. "I don't really like giving my name out."

"Well tough luck, old man," Nola chuckled in her deep voice and sat back, taking her large coat off. "It's either I call you nothing or I'll call you Old Man all the time. You do look like you're old enough to be the girl's father though."

"Fine," Sweden sighed, "it's Berwald."

Nola clicked her tongue, smiling. "I'll call you Berry instead."

Her voice sounded exotic and rich with quite a round jaw to reverberate her pronunciations. She's obviously not Nordic in origin; Nola's eyes are pretty dark with her skin tan seeming as if she hails some African ancestry but later told Berwald she's from Egypt.

"Well, we're either African or Arabs, but suggest African and all you get are people thinking about the AIDs epidemic, poverty and deserts," she rolled her eyes, "but suggest Arab, and they think of arrogant oil barons with 20 kids or terrorists blowing themselves up to get their rivers of honey and virgins."

"Yeah…" Sweden sighed. The seat he's resting on is really comfortable, he could just fall asleep and not worry of any unexpected attacks… The house the three are resting inside was abandoned long ago, but thankfully there is still some gas and water. There's 3 bedrooms, one belong to a family of two parents and two children… It feels uncomfortable to Sweden to sleep in someone else's house, knowing they're probably long dead, but right now he's just feeling too warm to stir much debate on the previous owners.

"Feeling warm?" Nola asked and stood up. She picked her coat up as she did so.

Sweden nodded. "Takk, Nola. We really needed somewhere to stay."

Nola stepped over to kneel by his chair, looking at him curiously.

"Where will you go after staying here?" she asked, "don't tell me you're planning to risk your lives out there again?"

"Lily blew up the old cabin we stayed at and our snowmobile got taken off us, but ja we'll still carry on walking until we get to Iceland. Her brother is there," Sweden explained. Nola whistled, impressed.

"I ought to give that girl some defensive training in case then. Guess what – how about you stay here for a while longer, but become one of the guards?" she suggested. She spoke quickly before Sweden could decline, judging by the frown on his face. "As much of a friend you are now to me, I can't just let you stay here without paying us back. Even Lily will need to earn her keep too."

"You're not making her a guard, are you? She barely knows how to use a gun."

"Don't worry, I'll make her a personal assistant instead. All she'll have to do carry out small and easy tasks for me and I'll teach her self-defence moves. But the best job I could think of you doing is being in security. You just have to break up fights and shoot anyone who threatens other people," Nola explained with a frown, "we can't have people threatening each other, nor can we have people killing each other over food."

Sweden sighed heavily. "How much food DO you have? How many people are there? How long have the people stayed her for?"

"Hold the phone, Berry," Nola chuckled, "now, it's only been a month, but we haven't fully explore the entire town. All we have are people station around the border of this town, but there is still a lot of food that hasn't been found yet."

"Wouldn't the guards sneak off with some food?"

Nola's eyes darkened. "Instant death penalty for anyone who thieves in the town. No questions asked."

"So there IS a law here, at least."

"But even guards are not exempt from this law. Any guard who helped cover up food thievery will also be put to death," the woman added.

The fire crackled on, spreading more of its warmth around the room. Sweden is sure that Liechtenstein is finally sleeping peacefully in the little bed upstairs without having any nightmares.

"…When do I start?" he murmured.

Nola dug her hand into the pocket of her coat, pulling out the gun that Liechtenstein held earlier before Nola confiscated it. She handed it to Sweden.

"The bullets for this are easy to get hold of, but use them wisely," she said.

Sweden accepted the gun back. "Lily will be relieved. This gun belongs to her brother."

"Well just be happy that I'm a kind woman," Nola snickered, but slipped her coat back on. "Anyway, you can start tomorrow after we hand out the food rations. Bread will be hard to chew, but just dip it in some boiled water and I'm sure it'll suffice for a few hours."

After Nola left the house to change shifts with another guard, Sweden coughed into his hand, but only coughed out a couple of spots of blood.

It reminded him of another rule that Nola briefed him on.

Anyone caught with the illness that caused the global panic will be shot immediately and incinerated, no questions asked.


End file.
